Companhia de Danca Alhambra Theatre The Alhambra’s dance season continued in style at the weekend with a spectacular new work from acclaimed Brazilian choreographer Deborah Colker.

The striking show, called Cruel, combined the grace of ballet with edgy contemporary dance and a dizzying array of stunts using larger-than-life apparatus. The gifted young dance troupe was at one with striking visual effects; running between huge revolving mirrors and tumbling across a spinning table with breath-taking precision and athleticism.

As the title suggests, the show explores the cruelty in relationships. In the opening scene elegant couples glided like swans beneath a giant white ball covered in intricate black lace floral patterns, like a spider’s web stretched over the moon.

Then came infidelity and violent passion reflected in a series of startling, often disturbing dance sequences.

The dancers threw each other across the spinning table, drawing gasps with a spectacular knife dance.

A striking, inventive, haunting production.